Diagnosing and Measuring Post Basic Education Systems and the Transition to the Labor Market – a New Framework

• In Event: Education Policy and Reform (II)

Proposal

The need to rethink education systems has gained increasing attention recently due to continued poor learning outcomes, both at the foundational and post-basic levels. Despite significant progress in enhancing access to education, commensurate improvements in education performance have yet to be achieved. Issues highlighted by Khalid (2023) for African post-basic education systems include inadequate funding, limited access and inequity, poor quality of teachers and teaching practices, brain drain of talent in the sector, weak governance and leadership, insufficient infrastructure and technology, lack of research and innovation support, political interference in academics that reduces autonomy, disruptions due to social and political instability, weak industry-academia collaborations, and limited international collaboration opportunities, amongst others. These have deterred skilled academics or students from remaining at African universities and led to poorly equipped graduates for the labor market. A common challenge among low- and middle-income countries is to foster an education system that is responsive to both the short-term and long-term needs of the labor market, thus leaving many youths unemployed.
By taking holistic approaches to addressing the systemic barriers to learning that arise from social, cultural, economic, and political factors, a more inclusive and equitable education system that empowers students, teachers, and communities can achieve the goal of quality education for all (UNESCO, 2021). Using a systems approach to address educational issues has grown in popularity in recent years, but it is often applied to the foundation level of education. Given that the post-basic education acts as a steppingstone into the workforce, it is critical to develop a framework for an educational system that not only assesses changes in the education system over time but also builds a bridge from post-basic education to dignified and fulfilling work. This is even more critical in Africa, where there are concerns about the educational system's ability to adequately prepare young people for the labor market, highlighting a substantial skills gap, and for their future well-being and agency.
We propose a new framework focusing on post-basic education systems and the transition to the labor market for young people. Our framework pulls together key concepts related to educational systems, high-quality and inclusive education, and systems change. We identify the key actors in the national post-basic education systems that are common across countries and their roles and relationships. We define a core set of ‘entry points’ or levers to generate systems change among actors. We also propose a robust approach to measuring changes in post-basic education systems over time, including each of these entry points and levers. It is meant to be adapted to specific country contexts, and we present initial findings from our first case study in Nigeria. We will also discuss plans for application of the framework to six additional African countries.
Our framework builds from existing systems frameworks both in education and labor market domains but fills gaps in current approaches. We reviewed the existing literature, identifying the strengths and the limitations of existing approaches to understanding education systems, and their usefulness in evaluating the effectiveness of education systems in promoting learning outcomes and, more especially, in helping youth transition to the labor market. In particular, we draw on the Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) Program’s Education Systems Framework (Spivack, 2021), Six Conditions of Systems Change (Kania et al. 2018), and the Youth Systems Framework (Ignatowski et al. 2021). However, across these and other frameworks there are several key limitations, that we try to address.
Our framework is descriptive (positive approach or what is) that can be adopted for diagnostic use (normative value). We specify the role of external agency and actors and the role of formal and informal institutions of learning. We not only consider inputs, processes, and outcomes, but also impact. The transition from education to labor market is explicit in the framework. The impact and lever at each stage in the education system are captured and can support design. Both secondary and primary data are applicable for describing and diagnosing systems. Our framework contributes to the ongoing discussion on how to best assess and improve education systems to meet the needs of learners in the 21st century. In our session, we will encourage discussion around how the framework can be further improved and applied, as we think of it as a starting point for conversation around post-basic education systems change.

Author

• Emilie Bagby, Mathematica